Car leaves parking lot in Mishawaka, lands in St. Joseph River

December 29, 2009|By DAVE STEPHENS Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA — Don Baldwin was busy working, patching a hole in the parking lot of Martin’s Super Market, when he heard a car engine accelerate. "The engine just revved, and the next thing I know she shot over the edge," said Baldwin, just minutes after a dramatic rescue in which firefighters rescued a woman from her car in the St. Joseph River this morning. Police say the driver, who was not identified, was trying to leaving the parking lot of Martin’s, 314 N. Ironwood Road, about 10:42 a.m. when her car accelerated and traveled through a guard rail and down a steep, near-vertical embankment into the river 30 feet below. Theresa Johnson said she had just finished shopping when she saw the car go through the railing. "It just went straight over," Johnson said, "like something out of the movies." As Johnson called 911, Baldwin and two other co-workers from Arnt Asphalt Sealing climbed down the bank to the car, which had entered the river. Baldwin said the car didn’t go completely in and, at first, water hadn’t entered the car. "We were trying to see if she was OK, and we could see that she was moving," Baldwin said of the driver, who he guessed was in her 70s. Firefighters and police from both Mishawaka and South Bend arrived at the store, which sits on the cities’ border, and a boat with South Bend firefighters was launched from Howard Park. Divers were able to pull the woman from the small four-door car and place her in a boat, where she could be seen moving her arms and head. The woman was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries and to be checked for hypothermia. None of her injuries were considered life-threatening. Police and firefighters worked with a wrecker service to pull the car out of the river, as additional pieces of guard rail had to be removed to bring the car back up the hill. Watching the crews work, Baldwin said he couldn’t believe the accident hadn’t ended even more badly. On the way down the hill, the car had avoided numerous trees and didn’t flip over. "I don’t know how she made it down there in a car," Baldwin said. "It was hard enough on foot." Staff writer Dave Stephens: dstephens@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6209